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Friday, August 21, 2015

UPDATE: 15 October 2015 - Linda Wolfe was notified that the Cherokee Nation will cover the medical care she desperately needs. She would like to thank everyone who worked to help her get what she needed. She also appreciates that she was in so many thoughts and prayers during her time of need. ____________________________________________

Below
is a post from Thursday, January 29, 2015. This woman is still waiting
for help. Her allergies are so bad, she is having numerous secondary
health problems now. The day after the election, after the results were
announced, I sent her a message telling her who won. She responded,
"Well, I guess there's no hope for me now."

I
nearly broke down in tears. As much as I wanted to tell her we could
get her the help she desperately needed, I knew I couldn't promise that.

I
truly believe this woman is a national treasure. She speaks our
language and has since birth. At the rate we are losing speakers of the
Cherokee language, we MUST do all we can to protect those who still
speak our native tongue as their first language. We MUST utilize the
knowledge of these Cherokees to revitalize our language or we are going
to lose it.

I
would like to believe that our chief, Bill John Baker, cares enough
about the people to step in and say, "We have to do something to help
this sick woman." Sadly, I don't think he will do it. I don't think
Baker is going to do anything to help anyone unless they worked on his
campaign, donated to his campaign, or has something to offer him in
exchange for his helping them.

If Chief Baker truly cares about the people he was elected to serve, he will
act to help this woman, a woman who has nothing to offer him
personally, but who has much to offer us as a nation. I don't think he
will do it.

Linda Wolfe, a full blood Indian and speaker of the
Cherokee language, has been trying to navigate the Indian Health Care system for
over 5 years. At 47, she's still a fairly young woman, but because she
is sick, she can no longer work. Often, she can't talk because her illness steals her voice.After making circles in the IHS holding pattern for three years, finally, in
February 2013, Linda was referred to an allergy specialist in
Tahlequah. That doctor did tests, evaluated the results, and said Linda
needed allergy shots. While the clinic said they could cover the cost
of the shots, Linda would be required to cover the cost of her weekly office call visits, totaling about $120 per month. The Cherokee Nation's IHS wouldn't cover that cost and Linda couldn't
afford it, so she's gone without treatment. Linda
has
tried to go outside IHS to get help. She isn't eligible for Sooner Care
because she has no children. She couldn't use the free clinic in Pryor,
Oklahoma because
they told her she was an Indian and had IHS. She can't afford "Obama
Care" because
Oklahoma didn't accept the Medicaid expansion. She's contacted her
Cherokee Nation council person. She's contacted other council people.
She's even contacted Connie Davis, executive director of Cherokee Nation
Health Services. If it is an option, she's explored it, yet she's still
had to go without treatment.As
time has passed and with treatment denied, Linda's health has suffered
in other ways. Due
to her severe allergies, headaches were no stranger to her, but the one
she had several months ago was different. It was a pounding, aching
headache like she'd never
before experienced. She was in so much pain, she had to lay down. As
Linda rested her head on the pillow, for a moment, she thought she
might
die because the pain was
unbearable. Then she felt a "pop" and the pressure and
pounding in her head was gone. At that same moment, something ran down
the side
of her face. It was blood and was coming out of her ear. A subsequent
trip to the doctor revealed
that congestion from her allergies was so substantial, it caused her
eardrum to burst from the pressure. Often,
when problems like Linda's are brought to light, the administration's
excuse is that the person fell through the cracks. We've been told this
enough that it's clear, we don't just have cracks, we have very deep and
wide chasms full of people. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Enough!

I don't want to hear excuses. I want to hear solutions.

I don't want to hear "we can't." I want to hear "we will."

And I don't want to hear "she'll have to wait." She's waited long enough.

It's
easy for our administration to ignore a problem as long as our people
aren't aware of it. They can't ignore Linda any more. Now we know about
her. Now we care about her. And now we demand action. She's lost her
voice, but we haven't lost ours. Each of us has a chance to become the
voice of the voiceless; to speak for those who can no longer speak; and
to stand with those who are standing alone. You have a choice. What will you do?Those are my thoughts for today.Thanks for reading. *Linda Wolfe made the decision to go public with her identity so the post has been updated on 21 Aug 2015 to include it.

2 comments:

Isn't that nice when felons get a new trailer, rehab on that new home, then a house built on their land? Supposedly coming from discretionary funds because she's ineligible for Bia funding because of her multiple felonies for drugs, cooking drugs, home invasion with a weapon and the list goes on. She's worked on his campaign, even though her ssd case has doctors statements saying she's not fit to interact with the public. A fullblood speaker should be more important than a Thinbloods felon to an "Indian" tribe. If there are discretionary funds for this loser, why can't those same funds be used to help this woman? I bet that Dumbass ice sculpture Baker just flaunted could have paid for six months of her treatment. I'm truly disgusted.